Toward An Epic Epigraph Graph

Toward An Epic Epigraph Graph Francis Bond, Graham John Matthews Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, English School of Humanities Nanyang Technological University www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/fcbond/ www.soh.ntu.edu.sg/Programmes/english/FacultyandStaff/Pages/Graham-Matthews.aspx bond@ieee.org, gmatthews@ntu.edu.sg Abstract We present a database of epigraphs collected with the goal of revealing literary influence as a set of connections between authors over time. We have collected epigraphs from over 12,000 literary works and are in the process of identifying their provenance. The database is released under an open license. Keywords: epigraph, influence, digital humanities The best ideas are common property. Seneca the Younger, “On Old Age”, Moral Letters to Lucilius 1. Introduction An epigraph is a quotation at the beginning of some piece of writing. Genette (1987, Ch. 7, pp156–160) identifies four major uses: (i) commenting on and justifying the title of the work; (ii) commenting on the text of the work (the most canonical usage); (iii) claiming a relationship to the cited author (name dropping); (iv) signaling the genre of the work (romantic and gothic authors use more epigraphs, classical and realistic fewer). As a results authors use them both to set the theme and to link their work to the existing body of literature. We have built a database of epigraphs, as a preliminary step to creating a network which maps epigraphs and their provenance (author, work, date, and country of origin) and consequently reveals literary influence as a set of connec- tions between authors over time. Epigraphs are indicative of the intended audience: for ex- ample, Evelyn Waugh uses epigraphs written in Ancient Greek, which suggest that the reader is expected to have some familiarity with the Classics, while Ali Smith utilises epigraphs from around the world, suggesting a more cos- mopolitan readership. Most importantly however, they function as a clear marker of influence. From their choice of epigraph, we know that writers such as Jeanette Winterson and Margaret Atwood were influenced by Greek tragedy, Ian McEwan was influenced by Jane Austen, and that Roberto Bola˜no’s influences range from Malcolm Lowry to Petronius. Reading literature as a communal network of ideas, philosophies, and artistic practices rather than a set of discreet objects signals the ways in which societies, in- stitutions and structures of power represent themselves in art and language and are shaped in turn by representations. Rather than focusing attention on the idiosyncratic group of writers that comprise the canon, this project examines the larger patterns that shape entire literary forms and periods. For instance, it is commonly understood that the writers of the English Renaissance were heavily influenced by the re- cently re-discovered Greek classics yet preliminary studies of the choice of epigraphs suggest that the Ancient Greeks were just as much, if not more, of an influence on British writers from the 1950s and 1960s, a notion that is born out by closer inspection of the novels’ themes. Epigraphs are often discussed within wider literary crit- icism as a way authors explicitly show their influences (Poplawski, 2017). However, to date there has been no large scale quantitative study …

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